Take a movie based on time travel, add in certain death, some stellar acting from a cast which includes Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri, and an edge of scientific discovery, and you will have created Omni Loop. An interesting, fun movie, it postulates on the possibilities of time travel to save a life… rather than an experiment in fun or historical mischief. Even though the stakes are high, the movie is still realistic and not overdramatic. For how serious and intense the themes in Omni Loop are, it is still genuine and dives into the reality of life. When a human is faced with death, there is not much left to do except find out what went wrong, and what transpired to lead them to this place. This movie is an exploration of that feeling, however, not in the way that is expected.
In theaters and available digitally through Magnolia Pictures on September 20, 2024 Omni Loop is directed by Brazilian Filmmaker Bernardo Britto; who prior to this, helped write for the TV series Fired on Mars and Los Espookys, as well as a few short films in the 2010s. He essentially wrote this film as an amalgamation of a lot of ideas budding in his mind over the past years. Creating something that is rife with symbolism and special moments, there are parallels between scenes that show a great attention to detail.
As stated, starring Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds series, Red 2010) and Ayo Edebiri (Big Mouth series, The Bear series), they act as lead and sidekick. While Parker’s Zoya Lowe interacts with plenty of other characters throughout the film, including her character’s family, the time spent with Edebiri’s Paula is what helps cause the most important character development. That in mind, for a time-loop movie, Omni Loop explores the specialty of chance encounters and coincidence as a special piece of reality, rather than diving deep into the repetitive nature of a constant loop.
Instead of having sequences of flashbacks, showing a life already lived, Omni Loop takes a groundhog day approach to the possibility of time travel. Creating a constantly repeating cycle that Zoya Lowe has to explore and find meaning in. This is interesting; because through the secondary characters in the film, it is apparent that the world of Omni Loop is lived in and full of love. However, Zoya, who has seen the same world time and time again, cannot attach herself to this world. Whether that is because of fear of death, or some underlying emotion affecting Zoya’s feelings of success is up to the viewer to decide.
Outside of plot, Omni Loop succeeds in both its music score and its acting. The performances of Parker and Edebiri help to drive the movie and create an exciting yet challenging dynamic that is realistic, full of academic debate and intimate conversation. Outside of the main characters, the world feels lived in and even if Zoya has fallen out of touch with reality and lost herself to metaphysical confusion, there is no apparent understanding from secondary characters. Instead, they continue to live in the world as normal and interact with Zoya normally rather than changing how they live based on each different timeline.
Which leads us to the music in Omni Loop, which is foreboding and intense; coming in at the right moments throughout the film to help build suspense and helping to bridge moments of cerebral thinking that would otherwise feel bland and contrived. The score helps put the movie together in the places where the performances of the actors cannot reach. The moments of understanding, frustration, or happiness that are being expressed are expanded upon by the simplistic music throughout the film.
Overall, the theme of family is present throughout this entire movie. Each character is infected with their own issues of family and the plans they make to find their own solutions are how the movie progresses itself. The focal points are centered around how Zoya reacts to her family and waning time with them. While there is an important chunk of Omni Loop centered on the possibility of time travel and the unique frontier being explored, it would feel incomplete if the tender moments shared with loved ones were not there as well. It is those moments when time outside the loop is explored that feel the most impactful and emotionally powerful.
If you are looking for an in-depth explanation of a possibility of time travel or a scientific marvel of a movie, Omni Loop is for you. Plenty of things are left unexplored and purposefully ambiguous… especially the nanoscopic man who shows up as a strange anomaly. His existence is pondered plenty, but never fully explained and feels like an underdeveloped plot point that was placed in as a symbol of loneliness rather than a purposeful piece of the story. Even with a lot of the story’s explanation missing, enough of the important aspects which tie together themes and explain what matters to Zoya in the end, are still there leading to a movie that feels rewarding to watch. For this reason, Cryptic Rock gives the Omni Loop 4 out of 5 stars.
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